Calendar attachment for telephones



Sept. 30, 1969 Filed May 27, 1969 FIT-*1 E. B. HALPERIN CALENDARATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

EDWARD B. HALPERIN ATTOFQNE S Sept. 30, 1969 E. B. HALPERIN 3,469,336

CALENDAR ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES Filed May 27, 1969 s Sheets-Sheet 2 jINVENTOR. EDWARD S. HALF E. Rm

ATTORNE p 0, 1969 E. B. HALPERIN 3,469,335

CALENDAR ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES Filed May 27, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 n,1' w 1h U s i 78 I hfi lih 50L I 30 Ill w I f 34 T 4 {j a I- Ill :72 6O4 3e 1 2s 7 56 54 44 5-538 5 W50 H U;

1 If??? IL. if fig .i H I I; INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent3,469,336 CALENDAR ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES Edward B. Halperin,Wayland, Mass., assignor to Perm Products Corporation, Randolph, Mass.,a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 27, 1969, Ser. No. 828,227

Int. Cl. G09f 3/00 U.S. Cl. 40-336 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acalendar attachment for telephones of the type having a housing whichincludes a finger-grip opening bounded by a wall having a bead at theedge of the opening, the calendar attachment including a base memberwhich supports a calendar holder, a tongue pro ecting from the basemember and a pair of fingers, one adjacent each side of the tongue,projecting from the base member in the same general direction as thetongue, each including a lateral depression and each being resiliently3,469,336 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 tion of the periphery of the mouth ofthe opening, the

calendar attachment comprising a base member, a calendar-supportingstructure integral with the base member, at least one tongue integralwith the base member and projecting from one edge thereof, at least onefinger indefiectable in a direction away from the tongue such that thewall of the housing may be engaged between the tongue and the fingerswith the bead seated within the depression to lock the base member tothe housing.

The present invention relates generally to a calendar attachment fortelephones, and pertains, more specifically, to a calendar attachmentwhich is readily affixed to telephones of the type having a'housingincluding a finger-grip opening at least a portion of which is boundedby a wall having a bead thereon adjacent the mouth of the opening.

Calendars, and especially calendar holders, have become extremelypopular as advertising premiums which are distributed by individuals,firms or companies and the like to customers and friends. These calendarholders, aside from carrying calendars, serve as vehicles foradvertising literature. One such holder which has become popular inrecent years is the calendar attachment designed to be used inconnection with a telephone. In view of the popularity of such devices,it would be advantageous to-have available a calendar attachment whichis simple and inexpensive to manufacture, is easily distributed throughthe mails, and which is easily attached to a telephone for effectivelydisplaying advertising literature, as well as a calendar, in aconvenient and conspicuous location.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to provide acalendar attachment which is readily attached to telephones of the .mostcommon type found in homes and ofiices.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a calendar attachment fortelephones which is easily and positively secured to a telephone housingin a convenient but conspicuous location.

Another object of the invention is to provide a calendar attachmenthaving adequate, conspicuous surfaces for carrying advertisingliterature.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a tegral with thebase member and projecting from the one edge thereof to a free outerextremity and extending in the same direction as the tongue, the fingerbeing resiliently deflectable in a direction generally perpendicular tothe direction in which the finger extends and including a lateraldepression between the one edge of the base member and the outerextremity of the finger such that upon engagement of the wall betweenthe tongue and the finger, the extremity of the finger will be deflectedover the bead until the bead is seated within the depression to lock thebase member to the housing.

The invention will be more fully understood, and still further objectsand advantages thereof will become ap parent, in the following detaileddescription of an embodirnent of the invention illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a calendar attachmentconstructed in accordance with the invention attached to a telephone;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view, partially sectioned, showing thecalendar attachment affixed to a telephone;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational ivew of the calendar attachment in anerected configuration;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the calendar attachment in anerected configuration;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 55 ofFIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the calendar attachment in a flatconfiguration; and

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation view of the calendar attachment in the flatconfiguration.

Referring now to the drawing, and especially to FIG- URES 1 and 2, acalendar attachment 10 constructed in accordance with the invention isshown attached to a telephone 12. The telephone 12 is of the type havinga housing 14 which includes a pair of brackets 16 comprising a carriagefor supporting the telephone hand-piece (not shown). Located between thebrackets 16 of the housing 14 is a finger-grip opening 18 ordinarilyprovided as a convenient means for gripping and lifting the telephone.The finger-grip opening 18 is bound at the top by a wall 20 whichincludes a bead 22 extending across the opening 18 at the mouth thereof.

The calendar attachment 10 has a base member 24 and an integralcalendar-supporting structure 26 which incalendar attachment which maybe packaged in a flat cludes a frame member 28 extending upwardly fromone edge 30 of the base member 24 and carrying a calendar 32. Projectingfrom the opposite edge 34 of the base member 24 is an integral tongue 36which projects from a first portion of edge 34 and, as best seen inFIGURES 3 and 4, a pair of integral fingers 38 located adjacent eachside 40 of the tongue and projecting from second portions of edge 34.The tongue 36 is coextensive with a plane P in which the upper surface42 of the base member 24 lies. While the fingers 38 extend in the samegeneral direction as the tongue 36, that is, generally parallel to theplane P, the fingers are located below the plane P.

Each of the fingers 38 includes a U-shaped portion 44 having a pair ofvertically oriented legs 46 and 48 and forming a lateral depression 50.Each leg 46 is integral at its upper end 52 with the edge 34 of the basemember 24 while each leg 48 is integral at its upper end 54 with afurther portion 56 of the finger, which portion 56 projects from the leg48 to the extremity 58 of the finger 38. Each finger 38 is provided witha cam portion 60 including a surface 62 inclined at an angle to theplane P, the surface 62 being spaced further from the plane P atlocations near the extremity 58 of the finger 38, gradually rising to apeak 64 adjacent to the U-shaped portion 44 and then falling rapidly at66 into the depression 50 of the U-shaped portion.

The fingers 38 are resiliently deflectable in a downward direction awayfrom the plane P of the tongue 36. Thus, the calendar attachment 10 maybe attached to the telephone housing 14 by placing the opening 68, whichlies between the tongue 36 and the fingers 38, against the bead 22 atthe opening 18 of the finger-grip portion of the housing 14 and thenforcing the base member 24 to the left, as viewed in FIGURE 2, so thatthe cam portions 60 will deflect the fingers 38 downwardly and thefingers will gradually pass over the bead 22 to engage the wall 20 suchthat the wall 20 is held between the tongue and the fingers and the beadis seated within the depressions 50 in the fingers to lock the basemember in place upon the housing as illustrated in FIGURE 2. When it isdesired to release the base member 24 from the housing 14, the procedureis merely reversed. Thus, the base member may be pulled to the right, asviewed in FIGURE 2, to release the bead 22 from the depresisons 50 andthereby release the calendar attachment 10 from the telephone 12.

As best seen in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the calendar 32 itself is supportedin the frame member 28 by means of a pocket 70 which includes ahorizontal shelf 72, a vertical wall 74 at each side of the shelf and across member 76 bridging the vertical walls 74 behind the calendar 32.The calendar 32 is retained in place by small pins 78 projecting abovethe calendar 32 and may be selectively removed from the frame member 28from behind by lifting the calendar over the small pins 78.

The front face 80 of the frame member 28 includes a window opening 82through which the calendar 32 is viewed. The surface areas of the frontface 80 of the frame member 28 which lie beyond the window opening 82are available for the display of advertising literature. Likewise, thesurface area of the upper surface 42 of the base member 24 is availablefor the display of advertising literature which may be printed thereon.

A pair of clip members 86 are integral with the cross member 76 andextend behind the frame member 28 to provide a slot 88 between the clipmembers 86 and the rear face 90 of the frame member 28. As best seen inFIGURES 1 and 2, a memo or note 91 may be placed within the slots 88 tobring to the attention of the user of the telephone various messages orreminders.

Calendar attachment 10 is advantageously fabricated in an unitarystructure of plastic material, one such material being polypropylene.Other suitble plastic materials will become apparent to those skilled inthe art of materials. As best seen in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7, the use ofsuch materials as polypropylene enables the base member 24 to beconnected to the frame member 28 by means of an integral plastic hinge92 which includes thin sections 94 interconnecting the base member 24and the frame member 28. These thin sections 94 permit the plasticmaterial to be bent or folded along the line defined by the thinsections. The base member 24 is beveled along surface 96 and the framemember 28 is likewise beveled along a corresponding surface 98 so thatthe frame member may be pivoted from a first position wherein the framemember 28 and the base member 24 lie fiat and generally coextensive (asin FIGURES 6 and 7) and a second position wherein the frame member 28 iserect and projects vertically upwardly generally perpendicular to thefirst position (as seen in FIGURE Projecting upwardly from the beveledsurface 96 is a detent projection 100 which is located in a position toengage a detent shelf 102 running along a slot 104 in the correspondingbeveled surface 98 of the frame member 28 to lock the frame member inthe erect position. Thus, the calendar attachment 10 may be packaged andmailed or otherwise shipped or distributed in a convenient fiatconfiguration and is readily erected for use.

It will be readily apparent from FIGURES 5 through 7, that the calendarattachment 10 is easily molded in one piece in a relatively simple moldand can therefore be fabricated in large numbers at an economically lowcost.

It is to be understood that the above detailed description of anembodiment of the invention is provided by way of example only. Variousdetails of design and construction may be modified without departingfrom the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A calendar attachment for telephones of the type having a housingincluding a finger-grip opening at least a portion of which is boundedby a wall, and a bead on said wall and extending along at least aportion of the periphery of the mouth of the opening, the calendarattachment comprising:

a base member;

a calendar-supporting structure integral with the base member;

at least one tongue integral with the base member and projecting from afirst portion of one edge thereof, said tongue having opposite sides;and

at least one finger integral with the base member and projecting from asecond portion of said one edge thereof to a free outer extremity andextending in the same direction as said tongue, said second portionbeing located sideways beyond one of said sides of said tongue, saidfinger being resiliently deflectable in a direction generallyperpendicular to the direction in which the finger extends and includinga lateral depression between said one edge of the base member and theouter extremity of the finger such that upon engagement of the wallbetween the tongue and the finger, the extremity of the finger will bedeflected laterally until the bead is seated within the depression tolock the base member to the housing.

2. The calendar attachment of claim 1 wherein:

the tongue extends in a plane containing at least a part of the basemember;

a finger projects from the base member at each side of the tongue andextends parallel to said plane; and

each finger is deflectable away from said plane to receive the wall andbead between the fingers and the tongue.

3. The calendar attachment of claim 2 wherein each finger includes anintegral cam portion having a surface inclined at an angle to thedirection of the extent of the finger for engaging the bead to deflectthe finger as the wall is inserted between the tongue and the finger andfacilitate such insertion and the seating of the bead within thedepression.

4. The calendar attachment of claim 2 wherein each finger includes:

a U-shaped portion including legs extending generally perpendicular tosaid plane to form said depression, one of said legs being integral withthe base memher;

a further portion projecting from the other of said legs and extendingto the extremity of the finger, said further portion being spaced fromthe tongue; and

a cam portion including a surface inclined at an angle to said plane,said surface being spaced further from said plane at locations nearerthe extremity of the finger for engaging the bead to deflect the fingeras the wall is inserted between the tongue and the fingers 5 andfacilitate such insertion and the seating of the bead within theU-shaped portion.

5. The calendar attachment of claim 4 wherein the base portion, tongueand each finger comprise a unitary structure of resilient plasticmaterial.

6. The calendar attachment of claim 2 wherein the calendar-supportingstructure projects from an edge of the base member opposite to the edgefrom which the tongue and fingers project and extends in a directiongenerally perpendicular to the plane containing said portion of the basemember.

7. The calendar attachment of claim 2 including:

means for connecting the calendar-supporting structure to the basemember for pivotal movement between a first position wherein thecalendar-supporting structure lies generally coextensive with the planeof the base member to a second position wherein the calendar-supportingstructure projects in a direction generally perpendicular to said plane;and

means for locking the calendar-supporting structure in said secondposition.

8. The calendar attachment of claim 7 wherein the calendar-supportingstructure and the base member comprise a unitary structure of plasticmaterial, andsaid means which connects the calendar-supporting structureand the base member includes an integral plastic hinge. 9. The calendarattachment of claim 8 wherein the calendar-supporting structureincludes:

a front face and a rear face; a calendar holder for holding anddisplaying a calendar visible at the front face; and a clip integralwith the calendar-supporting structure for holding a note against therear face. 10. The calendar attachment of claim 1 wherein the baseportion, tongue and each finger comprise a unitary structure ofresilient plastic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,624,965 1/1953 Griswold 403362,626,479 1/1953 Marrits 40336 X 2,795,877 6/1957 Falk 40-336 EUGENE R.CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner WILLIAM H. GRIEB, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl.X.R. 40l20

